Foreclosures spike in October

Up 42% over a year ago; Colorado, Nevada and Georgia lead.

By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer

November 17 2006: 9:12 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The pain continues for some hard-pressed homeowners: Foreclosure filings leaped again last month to their highest levels of the year, indicating many Americans are facing difficulties paying their mortgages.

RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, reports that 115,568 properties entered into some stage of foreclosure in October, a 42 percent increase over last year and an incidence of one for every 1,001 U.S. households.

The comparison with October of 2005 was particularly dramatic because that month in 2005 recorded the highest foreclosure rate last year, according to James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.

The newest data continued a strong trend from the past three months that shows foreclosures definitely moving upward, according to Saccacio. That puts more pressure on an already strained housing market.

Colorado, Nevada and Georgia were the states hardest hit by new foreclosures. It marked the eight straight month that Colorado, which recorded a rate of one foreclosure filing for every 327 households, led the nation.

California had more filings, 16,098, than any other state but its rate of one for every 759 households was less than half that of Colorado.

Northern New England has suffered the least from the foreclosure spike. Maine recorded a total of 46 filings, New Hamshire 15 and Vermont just one lone filing. North Dakota (16) and South Dakota (12) also had very few foreclosure filings last month.

In the table below, click on colum headings to re-rank; click on state names for housing and income stats on more cities.